City Commission Policy 130 - Structure and Management of City Commission Office Staff
DEPARTMENT: Treasurer-Clerk
DATE ADOPTED: July 14, 1994
DATE OF LAST REVISION: IN PROCESS OF REVISING TO INCORPORATE COMMISSION ACTION FROM 4/23/03
130.01 Authority: City Commission approval July 14, 1994.
130.02 Purpose: To delineate the process for the hiring, firing, evaluating, disciplining, management and reporting relationships of the staff to the City Commission.
130.03 Scope and Applicability: This policy shall apply to all staff of the City Commission Office, in the manner provided herein.
130.04 Policy Statement: It is the policy of the City Commission that the process for the hiring, firing, evaluating, disciplining, management and reporting relationships to the staff to the City Commission be structured in such a manner as to best meet the needs of the Mayor and Commissioners, and to provide continuity within the Commission Office.
130.05 Staffing of the City Commission Office: Permanent City Commission staff shall be composed of the following positions: an Aide to the Mayor; two Aides to the City Commissioners, who shall each be assigned to two Commissioners; and, two Secretarial positions. The City Commission may employ additional, temporary staff as needed to meet the workload demands of the Commission Office, and as directed by the Mayor. Any future additional staff resources will be requested through the annual budget process by the Treasurer-Clerk. Should any permanent positions be subsequently reclassified, or added to or deleted from the Commission Office staff, this policy shall be automatically amended without the requirement for formal action to reflect such change.
130.06 City Commission Office Structure and Management:
- Responsibilities of the Treasurer-Clerk: The Treasurer-Clerk shall be responsible for maintaining all personnel, budget and payroll records of the Commission Office. He shall execute all employment forms (change of status, employment report, employment requisitions, etc.), approve and process all purchase orders, invoices and budget transfers, and together with the appropriate Elected Officials, approve and process pay raises. He shall assist the Aide to the Mayor in preparing the Commission Office budget, and provide any managerial or administrative support as may be requested by the Mayor, a Commissioner, or the Aide to the Mayor.
- Responsibilities of the Aide to the Mayor: The Aide to the Mayor shall be responsible for purchasing office supplies and equipment, approving personal and sick leave requests of Commission Office staff (the Aides to the Commissioners and the Secretarial positions), coordinating office lunch hours and breaks, setting standards and protocol within the office, making decisions relative to how citizens would be handled when they call or visit the Commission Office, supervising the Secretarial positions, and otherwise directing office staff (to the extent that direction does not conflict with a Commissioner's direction to his or her Aide).
- Responsibilities of the Mayor: The Mayor shall be responsible for approving personal or sick leave for the Aide to the Mayor, and for providing supervision and direction to the Aide to the Mayor.
130.07 Employment Process:
- As applies to all Commission Office staff positions - At the time a position becomes vacant, unless otherwise directed by the Mayor (or by both appropriate Commissioners, in the case of an Aide to the Commissioners), the Treasurer-Clerk's Office will submit to the Employee Relations Department the paperwork to initiate the advertising process. The Employee Relations Department will solicit applications pursuant to their normal advertising process, receive the applications, and conduct a preliminary review process to determine those applicants which meet the minimum training and experience (MT&E) requirements as set forth in the established job description. Those applications deemed by the Employee Relations Department to have met the MT&E requirements shall then be forwarded to the Treasurer-Clerk.
- As applies to the Aide to the Mayor - The Treasurer-Clerk will forward all applications received from the Employee Relations Department to the Mayor. The Mayor may personally conduct interviews, or may solicit the assistance of the Treasurer-Clerk in any capacity he or she deems appropriate. In any case, the Mayor shall be solely responsible for making the final selection. The selected applicant shall be advised of their career service status.
- As applies to the Aides to Commissioners - The Treasurer-Clerk, with the assistance of the Aide to the Mayor, shall further screen the applications received from the Employee Relations Department and, through an interview process, identify from two to four applicants most qualified for further consideration. The Treasurer-Clerk will forward all applications received from the Employee Relations Department to the two appropriate Commissioners, identifying the applicants recommended for a second interview. Either of the two Commissioners may add or delete from the group identified by the Treasurer-Clerk. Once a final interview list has been agreed upon by the two Commissioners, the Treasurer-Clerk will establish an interview schedule. The two Commissioners may elect to conduct interviews either jointly or separately. If the Commissioners have elected to conduct separate interviews, the Treasurer-Clerk will serve as liaison between them. The selection of an applicant to fill the vacant Aide position will be made jointly through a process of elimination. Either Commissioner may remove an applicant from further consideration at any point in the process. The Commissioners will endeavor to find the applicant that is most mutually acceptable. The selected applicant shall be advised of their career service status.
- As applies to the Secretarial positions - The Treasurer-Clerk will forward all applications received from the Employee Relations Department to the Aide to the Mayor. The Aide to the Mayor will conduct a first round of interviews, and identify from two to four applicants most qualified for further consideration. The Treasurer-Clerk and the Aide to the Mayor will then jointly conduct a second interview with the group selected by the Aide to the Mayor, and make a final selection.
130.08 Evaluation Process:
- As applies to all Commission staff positions: All City Commission staff will be evaluated at the end of a six month probationary period, and at least annually thereafter on the same schedule as for the other City employees.
- As applies to the Aide to the Mayor: The Treasurer-Clerk will provide the Mayor with the appropriate evaluation form. The Mayor will be responsible for preparing and conducting the evaluation of the Aide to the Mayor.
- As applies to the Aides to Commissioners: The Treasurer-Clerk will provide each Commissioner with the appropriate evaluation form. Each Commissioner will complete the form as related to their Aide, provide the Aide with a copy of the form, and discuss the evaluation with them. The Treasurer-Clerk will attend each presentation of the evaluation to the Aides for the purpose of understanding the met and unmet needs of each Commissioner, and to be in a better position to design systems, processes and employee training to meet those needs. To the extent significant differences exist in Commissioners opinions regarding the performance of their Aide, a joint meeting of the two Commissioners and the Aide will be scheduled to review these differences and provide future direction to the Aide. The Treasurer-Clerk will serve as liaison between the Commissioners and attempt to resolve any differences of opinion. When compensation is based on the evaluations, the average of the two evaluations will be used.
- As applies to the Secretarial positions: The Treasurer-Clerk will provide the Aide to the Mayor with the appropriate evaluation forms. The Aide to the Mayor will be responsible for preparing and conducting the evaluations of the Secretarial positions.
130.09 Disciplinary Processes:
- As applies to all Commission staff positions: All City Commission Office staff shall be subject to disciplinary actions as specified in the City Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual for all City employees.
- As applies to the Aide to the Mayor: Recognizing that performance evaluation is an on-going process, if at any time the Mayor has concerns about the Aide to the Mayor's performance, the Mayor should immediately make the Treasurer-Clerk aware of those concerns. The Mayor and Treasurer-Clerk shall then meet with the Aide to the Mayor and discuss the areas of concern. Should the problem continue after reasonable notice to the Aide to the Mayor, or if the severity or frequency dictates such, the Mayor may apply appropriate disciplinary action as determined by City Personnel Policy. For disciplinary purposes, the Aide to the Mayor shall be considered in the same light as Senior Management and shall, therefore, have no right of grievance of disciplinary action.
- As applies to the Aides to Commissioners: Recognizing that performance evaluation is an on-going process, if at any time a Commissioner has concerns about his or her Aide's performance, the Commissioner should immediately make the Aide aware of those concerns. Should the problem continue after reasonable notice to the Aide to the Commissioner, or if the severity or frequency dictates such, the Commissioner should notify the Treasurer-Clerk who shall assist the Commissioner in applying appropriate disciplinary action as determined by City Personnel Policy. In so doing, the Treasurer-Clerk shall keep the Aide's other Commissioner informed as to concerns, issues and directions being pursued. For disciplinary purposes, the Aides to Commissioners shall be considered in the same light as Senior Management and shall, therefore, have no right of grievance of disciplinary action.
- As applies to the Secretarial positions: Recognizing that performance evaluation is an on-going process, if at any time the Aide to the Mayor has concerns about either of the Secretary's performance, the Aide to the Mayor should immediately make the Secretary aware of those concerns. Should the problem continue after reasonable notice to the Secretary, or if the severity or frequency dictates such, the Aide to the Mayor should notify the Treasurer-Clerk who shall assist the Aide to the Mayor in applying appropriate disciplinary action as determined by City Personnel Policy. The Secretary positions shall have full benefit and availability of the grievance process as provided in the City Personnel Policy.
130.10 Termination of Employment:
- As applies to the Aide to the Mayor: Given the special needs of the Mayor, the Aide to the Mayor shall serve at the pleasure of the Mayor and, accordingly, may be dismissed from the employment of the City by the Mayor without cause.
- As applies to the Aides to Commissioners: Given the special needs of the Commissioners, the Aides to Commissioners shall serve at the pleasure of each of their assigned Commissioners and, accordingly, may be dismissed from the employment of the City by either of their Commissioners without cause.
- As applies to the Secretarial positions: The Secretarial positions shall be afforded career service protection as applies to all City employees other than Elected and Appointed Officials and Executive and Senior Management.
130.11 Eligibility for Severance Pay:
- As applies to the Aide to the Mayor: Given the consideration that the Aide to the Mayor shall serve at the pleasure of the Mayor, and as such, is subject to termination of employment without cause, the Aide to the Mayor shall, in the event of termination of employment for reasons other than those related to performance, be provided severance pay under the same provisions as are available to Executive and Senior Management of the City.
- As applies to the Aides to Commissioners: Given the consideration that the Aides to Commissioners shall serve at the pleasure of each of their assigned Commissioners and, as such, are subject to termination of employment without cause, the Aides to Commissioners shall, in the event of termination of employment for reasons other than those related to performance, be provided severance pay under the same provisions as are available to Executive and Senior Management of the City.
- As applies to the Secretarial positions: The Secretarial positions shall not be eligible for severance pay.
130.12 Administration: The Treasurer-Clerk shall be responsible for the administration of this policy.
130.13 Sunset Review: This policy shall undergo sunset review five years from the date of its adoption. The sunset review process shall be for the policy to be automatically extended for an additional five years unless terminated or modified by the City Commission.
130.14 Effective Date: July 14, 1994.